Outrage over prices among American drivers, who consume an eighth of the world's oil, is turning into resignation with summer driving season around the corner. Motorists may bristle, and alarm over fuel costs is growing in Washington, but experts say the tipping point at which prices would slash demand has likely risen sharply since 2008.

One expert pegs the "tipping point" (the point at which drivers start to dramatically change their driving habits) at $5 a gallon.

The are several reasons for this according to the article:

perception has changed - people are not as shocked by $4 per gallon gas

employment is rising, putting more commuters on the road who aren't as anxious about paying higher prices at the pump

people are reducing discretionary spending in other areas as they pay more for gas

there is less media coverage on this price spike compared to 2008

A Mastercard analyst noted that demand is not falling that far despite the higher prices:

Even as pump prices rose over the last four weeks, U.S. retail gasoline sales were off only 1.2 percent from year-ago levels, according to MasterCard.Perhaps more telling, the clip of the decline appears to be leveling off. MasterCard analyst John Gamel said the firm's surveys have shown smaller declines occurring each week.

So what will it take for you to change your driving habits? Are you adjusting them already, or will it take $5 per gallon for you to hop on that bus?